Below is my column in The Hill on the impeachment inquiry and one striking pattern among the alleged crimes facing Hunter Biden: they all served to conceal the influence peddling efforts to sell access or influence to his father. The investigation and charging of Hunter Biden has, thus far, been strikingly surgical in avoiding this pattern of concealment.
New York Times columnist (and my former classmate at The University of Chicago) David Brooks said this week that the corruption scandal “merits an inquiry. It does not merit … an impeachment inquiry.” While I understand the distinction, I do not understand the basis for it in this situation. There are a variety of alleged crimes related to this corruption that may involve the President. There are also allegations like abuse of office that have been cited in past impeachments. We do not know if those connections exist but, if they do, they would clearly constitute impeachable offenses. Moreover, it is unlikely that we will get those answers without an impeachment inquiry. An impeachment inquiry does not inevitably lead to impeachment, but it does tend to lead to answers on whether impeachable conduct has occurred.
Here is the column:
In both the law and psychology, the concept of “willful blindness” is a long-recognized pattern of human conduct. It has been described as circumstances where “you could have known, and should have known, something that instead you strove not to see.”
The indictment of Hunter Biden on three counts of federal gun violations illustrates the myopic view of many in the media and the Justice Department.
Although there is a real possibility of additional charges against Hunter, the move to charge the gun violations reinforces a concern that the Justice Department continues to focus on charges that stay as far away from Hunter’s father, President Joe Biden, as plausible. The gun charges are conveniently self-contained and insulated for the administration.
The unseen pattern is becoming more and more troubling.
For years, many of us argued that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s refusal to appoint a special counsel in the Biden corruption scandal was baffling. Even some Democratic members of Congress and many in the mainstream media now admit that Hunter was engaged in a multimillion dollar influence-peddling scheme. He was also engaged in alleged criminal conduct.
However, the appointment of a special counsel on the influence-peddling would have required an investigation of the president himself. He was, after all, the one whose influence was being peddled as what Hunter’s friend and associate Evan Archer called the “Biden brand,” and he directly interacted with Hunter’s clients. It is impossible to pursue these payments and efforts without running into multiple references to the president or his various code names.
We also know that whistleblowers in the IRS said that they were told to avoid references to Joe Biden in their investigation of Hunter Biden. Moreover, they testified that the statute of limitations on the most serious charges related to these foreign payments were knowingly allowed to expire by the Justice Department, even though it would have been possible to extend the statute of limitations.
The Justice Department then attempted an absurd sweetheart deal to close off the case without felony charges or jail time. That deal collapsed after a federal judge confirmed that even the prosecutors themselves had never seen such a sweeping deal.
Garland finally yielded to the calls for a special counsel, then appointed David Weiss, who was responsible for the deal. He also did not expressly give Weiss a mandate to investigate the influence peddling or the president.
That brings us back to the gun charges.
Thus far, the Justice Department has surgically avoided charges that would implicate the president. This may simply be a coincidence, and correlation does not constitute causation. However, the other charges (including those that the Justice Department effectively killed by slow-walking its investigation) have an obvious potential connection: They all worked to help conceal the influence-peddling operation.
None of this means that this unifying theory is true, but it cannot be ignored by anyone investigating this corruption scandal.
First, there are the tax violations. While Hunter may be charged with some tax violations, the statute of limitations has now run out on the most controversial payments in the 2014 and 2015 period for foreign sources such as Ukraine’s Burisma. The obvious value in not claiming income is to avoid taxes. However, claiming income also highlights not just the receipt of these funds but their sources. Likewise, falsely claiming income as a “loan” can keep the money off the books or make it less likely to trigger scrutiny on the source and purpose of payments.
Second, there are the money transfers. The House has now detailed millions in transfers to Biden family members from a dizzying array of dozens of companies and accounts. The use of a complex labyrinth raises obvious concerns that it is a tactic used by individuals to conceal money transfers.
Third, many of us have noted that there seems ample basis for charging Hunter Biden under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, particularly given previous charges against such defendants as Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort. Registering as a foreign agent obviously invites much greater scrutiny over foreign dealings and the specific nations involved in lobbying efforts.
Again Hunter could still eventually face charges for avoiding taxes. But there is little evidence that the Justice Department has actively pursued these broader implications or motivations.
For many, the marginalization of these charges raises troubling concerns, particularly in light of the failed sweetheart deal and the allegations from the whistleblowers. Even if the tax charges are brought, the framing of the investigation has been on the income rather than the influence sought in these dealings.
Instead, there seems confusion rather than clarity in how the Justice Department has handled these allegations for years. Even CNN legal analysts are now calling the handling of the investigation at the Justice Department an “unholy mess.”
This also explains why the public has little faith in the Justice Department in the investigation of Hunter Biden. In a new AP poll, half of the public says that they lack confidence in the integrity of the Justice Department’s investigation. Another 59 percent is extremely or somewhat concerned that Joe Biden committed wrongdoing in these dealings.
That follows an ABC News/Ipsos poll in which roughly half said they lack trust that the Justice Department will conduct the Hunter Biden investigation in a “fair and nonpartisan manner.” Finally, in a recent CNN poll, 61 percent of Americans believe Joe Biden was involved in his family’s business deals with China and Ukraine; only 1 percent of those who say he was involved believe that he did nothing wrong.
The public is not willfully blind to the evidence or the possible motives behind some of these alleged crimes. That is precisely why there is ample reason for the House to have launched its impeachment inquiry.
E.F. Schumacher wrote that “everything can be seen directly except the eye through which we see.” For the media and the Justice Department, it will become increasingly difficult to turn a blind eye to the evidence of corruption and influence peddling surrounding the Biden family, including the president himself.
These patterns and allegations can be disproven, but the public’s lack of confidence in the Justice Department increasingly appears justified. For most citizens wanting to see the truth behind these dealings, they will clearly have to look to Congress for the answers.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University.
Is Merrick Garland being blackmailed by Biden(Obama) perhaps a list of people who Epstein invited to his island might give us a clue.
It appears that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to the felony gun charges. He wanted to do it by zoom, the judge said get your a$$ down here.
Gee, I guess Abbe Lowell hasnt heard about the 5th Circuit ruling.
Apparently Hunter hired the wrong person. If only he had known about the brilliant law dogs that comment here.
How does it feel to be wrong again, Dennis/ATS?
Jonathan: You must be ecstatic! Jim Comer has announced he will hold his first hearing on 9/28 on the impeachment inquiry of Pres. Biden. The hearing will be about what Comer calls “the President’s involvement in corruption and abuse of office”. Comer has no new evidence but he promises to subpoena Hunter’s bank records which he hopes will show VP Biden received a $5 million bribe in exchange for helping to oust Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin.
The Q is whether Comer will call Eric Schwerin to testify at the first hearing? I ask this Q because back in March Schwerin, a former Hunter business associate, was interviewed by Comer’s Committee and clearly stated that Joe Biden was not involved in his son’s business dealings. Comer now claims his Committee “never interviewed Schwerin”. In a letter to Comer, Jamie Raskin contradicted Comer and pointed out the following:
“Mr. Schwerin spent hours answering substantive questions from Republican and Democratic staff about his
relationship with Hunter Biden, as well as the history, structure, and operations of Hunter Biden’s various business
entities. During the interview, Mr. Schwerin explained that, between 2000 and 2017, he performed a number of
administrative and bookkeeping tasks for the Vice President and Hunter Biden. He further stated that he was not
aware of any involvement of President Biden in the financial conduct of his family member’s businesses”.
And what was Comer’s response to Raskin’s letter? He bizarrely claimed the Schwerin interview was not a
“transcribed interview of deposition”. It was just an “informal meeting”. Comer claimed his Committee will conduct a “formal” interview with Schwerin but that has yet to take place. Probably because Schwerin’s statements and those of Devon Archer also contradicting Comer’s false claims are an inconvenience–that do not not fit into Comer’s false narrative about the Biden family.
Will Comer call either Schwerin or Archer to testify at his first meeting at the end of the month? Probably not. That will be up to the Dems to get the real FACTS on the record. Funny, you have also ignored the statements of Schwerin and Archer. Why is that?
Dennis: thank you. It’s all about Trump, not about Biden–the optics are what count, not the facts. The story du jour is that Congress is going after Joe Biden to impeach him. Republicans will keep on hounding, pounding until they get something, anything, to use to accuse Biden, and alt-right media will claim legitimacy, all of which is just a distraction away from Trump. Trump keeps shooting off his ego-driven big mouth and every time he goes in front of cameras, he digs himself in deeper and deeper. On “Meet the Press” on Sunday, he shot down his “advice of counsel” defense. So, there has to be some counter-narrative, and the gullibles will believe it no matter how flimsy the evidence. Republicans have two Hunter Biden insiders who both say there’s NO evidence against Joe Biden, but does that deter Republicans? As you point out, Turley doesn’t mention Schwerin or Archer. It’s not on the assignment list.
Meanwhile, Ray Epps, who has always denied being an FBI informant or operative, has been arrested. From ABC News:
“Ray Epps, a former Oath Keeper member who became the target of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories spread by many Republicans, has been charged in connection with the attacks at the U.S. Capitol.
The Justice Department charged Epps on Monday with a single misdemeanor count of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted area via a criminal information, which is often an indication a defendant is prepared to plead guilty.
Epps’ attorney, Edward Ungvarsky told ABC News he anticipates a guilty plea to the charge.
Epps said he went to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest the 2020 election. Republicans accused him of being an undercover federal agent that urged supporters of former President Donald Trump to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Epps had long denied being an informant or federal agent, including in testimony before the Jan. 6 House select committee. Epps, who worked as a roofer after he served as infantry in the U.S. Marine Corps, told the House investigators that he never worked for the FBI.
He has since filed a defamation suit against Fox News and former host Tucker Carlson for repeated segments spreading the conspiracy theory he was acting undercover, which he has said resulted in threats and harassment that upended his life.”
Breaking news gigi. They have found the 10 million from zlovchevsky. Your boy is going down. Sorry.
“In a letter to Comer, Jamie Raskin contradicted Comer, when Comer said an orange is orange.”
Gee, imagine that.
Yes Gigi, don’t you and the rest of the police state fascist alt-left dearly wish it was about Trump to the point that Bribery Joe, The Big Guy, was out of view!
Gigi, you’re long past your Best By date after your years of pimping for the Clinton/Obama/Biden “Russia Dossier” that you INSISTED (and still do) proved Trump conspired with Putin to steal the election.
Any shred of human dignity and credibility you might have had outside your circle of fellow Soviet Democrat Marxist Useful Idiots disappeared while you were pimping “Joe Biden knows nothing about his son’s business clients and that laptop isn’t his – it’s Russian election disinformation!”.
Maybe you and Dennis should get a room and have some shared special moments.
Dennis
Who would you say it is most likely that hunter and zlovchevsky called from dubai in december 2015 and what was the purpose of that call?
John solomon hasnt come right out and reported it, because he has too much integrity, but they have already found the money. You are a day late and a dollar short.
“Jim Comer has announced he will hold his first hearing on 9/28 on the impeachment inquiry of Pres. Biden”
You mean the one they cant have??
You mean like the impeachment inquiry Commissar Pelosi didn’t bother with, going straight to a Soviet style impeachment?
What is bizarre when a Soviet Democrat apparatchik pops up to pimp for Jamie Raskin of Trump’s Soviet style impeachments claim.
And here’s the comedy part: We’re assured that the Soviet Democrats who gave us the Clinton/Obama/Biden “Russia Dossier” and the “51 Intelligence Experts Say The Laptop Is Russian Election Disinformation” fame – are going to “get the real FACTS on the record”.
Funny, you actually believe normal Americans are also Marxist Useful Idiots? Who else are you posting to here?
So let’s see, it Schwerin outs Biden for bribes, he is also going to prison as the corrupt accountant… and business scammer.
“First son Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner — who also managed his family’s financial affairs — made more visits to both the Obama White House and then-Vice President Biden’s official residence than previously known.
Eric Schwerin dropped in at the executive mansion and the Naval Observatory in Washington on at least 36 occasions in total between 2009 and 2016 ”
This is like asking the bank robber if his partner in crime was in the car or out back during the bank robbery and how much of the loot he got.
How likely is it that your son’s shady business and his corrupt business partner “also does Biden family financial affairs” and thus, can move the money through the 20 + LLC’s and phoney bank accounts so as to hide the loot.
Golly, when you ask him, Schwerin, he confesses to the crimes, and tattles on the Bidens, right ?
LOL
Yes, I’m sure every word from Schwerin’s mouth will be from the white driven snow.
Freedom comes after the devastation. The thirteen colonies were devastated before the were rebuilt. Same for Europe. America and Europe and Japan are now free
Jonathan: In your column you raised the issue of “willful blindness”, that the media and the DOJ have deliberately ignored the “Biden corruption scandal”. That’s not true. The media have widely covered the Hunter Biden story and the claims against Joe Biden. The coverage is almost daily over a wide spectrum of the media. As to the DOJ, AG Garland appointed David Weiss as Special Counsel–giving him wide authority to pursue any and all crimes of Hunter. He has already indicted Hunter on the firearms charges and will also likely do so on the tax issues.
So what are you complaining about? That after a 5 year investigation Weiss has not uncovered any “crimes” by Joe Biden. Weiss is not a Democrat. He is a conservative Republican, appointed to his position in Delaware by DJT in 2017. Don’t you think that if he had uncovered any “crimes” by Biden in connection with his son’s business activities Weiss would have asked for such authority to pursue that investigation by now? Weiss is charging Hunter with only the gun violations (and may pursue the tax charges) because that’s all he has. And Hunter has defenses against those charges. He paid all his back taxes and their is case law that a drug user has a 2nd Amendment to lawfully purchase a gun– and their is no evidence Hunter used the gun to engage in criminal activity. The gun was probably purchased for self defense.
As you know “willful blindness” is also a legal doctrine. It holds that a judge can instruct a jury that it may convict a defendant in a criminal case if the evidence shows the defendant was willfully blind to relevant facts at issue in the case. This is where DJT comes in. In his continuing media interviews makes his legal troubles much worse. On Sunday DJT sat down for a NBC interview on “Meet the Press” with Kristen Welker. She asked DJT whether it was his decision to challenge the results of the 2020 election. DJT replied: “”As to whether or not I believed it was rigged? Oh, sure…it was my decision. But I listened to some people. Some people said that”.
Why is DJT’s admission important? Because DJT’s lawyers will argue that both in the Jack Smith indictment and the one by Fani Willis DJT was just following the “advice of counsel”. That defense won’t fly now. We know that DJT was told by WH counsel and his campaign advisors he lost the election. Who were the “some people” DJT wanted to listen to rather than those who knew the facts? It was “team crazy” composed of Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Michael Flynn, et. al. who reinforced DJT’s decision making that the election had been “rigged”. Powell. Eastman, Ken Chesbro and others have been criminally charged by Fani Willis for that little conspiracy.
So DJT’s interview on “Meet the Press” has given Jack Smith and Fani Willis a two-fer. DJT’s admission can be used both as his “willful blindness” about the facts and an “admission against interest”–another legal doctrine that holds as statement outside of court that is against as party’s own interest is admissible to show the party’s guilty state of mind.
Poor DJT. He keeps running his mouth and digging a deeper legal mess for himself. He is leaving breadcrumbs for Jack Smith and Fani Willis to use against him in both the trials. And that’s why DJT’s are tearing out their hair out–they can’t seem to keep their client’s mouth shut!
Dennis – Trump leads Biden by 6 points in swing states in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/trump-leads-biden-in-critical-2024-swing-states-reuters-ipsos-poll/ It is Trump who is smiling.
edwardmahl: Whoa–hold on bud! I wouldn’t count your chickens before they’re hatched! Remember the 2020 elections? The GOP expected a “red wave” because they were way ahead in the polls. Didn’t work out exactly how they expected. The Dems kept control of the Senate and nearly kept the House. Now McCarthy’s majority is so thin he doesn’t want to hold a vote on authorizing a Biden impeachment inquiry because he knows he would lose.
Yes, the current polls show Trump leads in the polls, 47-43. But in California and NY, Biden has a margin of 50-33– the two states that primarily cost the Dems the House last year. Then we have a recent poll in Wisconsin, a battleground state, where Biden leads DJT 43% to 32%. In FL, if Biden were pitted against Gov. DeSantis
Biden would win 49% to 47%–and this is in a very “red State”.
And you assume DJT will be the the GOP nominee next year. That is not a given. If DJT is convicted in any of the 4 criminal indictments between now and the middle of next year what does that say about his chances as a “convicted felon”? Don’t you think that will have an impact on how voters make their choices? So early polls now don’t prove anything. Get back to me this time next year and we will discuss the polls then.
Remember 2016 Denny? When Hillary was coronated by none other than you?
Oh to be a fly in your household the morning of Nov 9, 2016.
The chickens are counted bro, things are only going to get worse for Biden.
Bwahahahaha I can’t wait.
“Don’t you think that will have an impact on how voters make their choices?”
This was the miscalculation, wasn’t it.
You really think a conviction is going to mean anything? Drink the sand, bro.
Every indictment his numbers went up.
Conviction=Landslide
“In FL, if Biden were pitted against Gov. DeSantis
Biden would win 49% to 47%–and this is in a very “red State”.”
“Very red state”??? What planet are you on? Is that “willful” color blindness? You lost ALL credibility with that one.
Trump won by 1.2 and 3.4
Obama won by 2.8 and .88
Anybody remember Bush v Gore???
Biden win in FL? And by 2 points, no less? You ARE desperate. DeSantis is GOD there. He won reelection one year ago by 20 POINTS, including carrying blue districts that hadn’t been won by a Republican in 80 years. You might want to stop using Vox for your “recent polls”.
And somehow Wisonsin, that was very narrow last 10 elections, is a huge fan of Biden and what he has done to the country? WOW. 43 to 32 and you dont question that? Who did they poll, your immediate family??
What a sad analysis.
I forgot to mention the Harvard Harris X poll out this week showing Biden losing to Trump and two other possible Republi cvan nominees. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12535449/Poll-shows-Biden-80-losing-Trump-Nikki-Haley-Tim-Scott-party-members-say-death-imminent.html
That doesn’t even take into account the real possibility that RFK Jr. will as an independent. If that happens, Biden could finish third in the election.
“If DJT is convicted in any of the 4 criminal indictments between now and the middle of next year what does that say about his chances as a “convicted felon”?”
That Trump wins by 10 points.
The public is not as gullible as the Left would like to believe.
“Trump leads Biden by 6 points in swing states”
He could be the first person to lead our country from prison. You guys like “firsts”, right?
If he wins the primary, I will definitely be voting for him for the first time.
I guess Fani will have to bring him his Executive Orders to sign, along with his bread and water, eh Dennis?
Oh wait, once elected, he will just pardon himself.
Bwahahahahaha
The Soviet Democrat Apparatchik, Dennis McIntyre was dispatched here for what… hoping that distraction by mentioning their police state fascist treatment of Trump (while at the same time shielding Biden Crime Inc. from similar investigation and prosecution) will accomplish… what?
Paragraphs about Trump – when the focus of the article is the long trail of breadcrumbs, LLCs, over a hundred Suspicious Activity Reports, IRS and FBI whistleblowers, CI reports being revealed that spoke of tens of millions of bribes, etc – because people came to read about Trump instead of an impeachment inquiry into Bribery Joe, The Big Guy?
Is that your thinking, Tovarisch McIntyre?
BTW: “and their is no evidence Hunter used the gun to engage in criminal activity. The gun was probably purchased for self defense”… if you’re going to flex and pose as an Official Soviet Democrat Defence Lawyer, you should know that intent to engage in criminal activity is not one of the elements of the felonies the cover-up prosecutor had to finally charge Biden on. Nor is any claimed self-defense a justification for the criminality. The criminal activity occurred the second The Bagman Formerly Known As The Crackhead Kid completed the purchase by submitting the false background check and lied to the store clerk.
You should be in ecstasy that the cover-up prosecutor didn’t even charge The Bagman with the additional federal felony of bringing his illegal firearm into a school zone, never mind the income tax frauds that would lead investigators to look at where all that money coming from Biden Crime Inc. customers went to.
Richard James: Dear Comrade Ricardo: I sincerely appreciate you reading my comments. I write them from my 7,000 sq. ft. dacha–means country home in Russian–just outside Moscow. They are translated by my loyal official translator provided by President Putin. But I should point out one big mistake you make. My real name is Joseph Vissarionovich Nikolayevich Astapovo. I use “Dennis McIntyre” as what I think you call a “cover” name.
So, da, my job is to spread propaganda in US to confuse readers like you. I learned lesson from Grigory Potemkin. You probably don’t know him. He built “Potemkin Village” to impress his lover Empress Catherine II. Potemkin wanted her to think things were better than they actually were. I do same thing but in reverse. Has worked pretty well so far–don’t you think?
You can visit me any time. Be my guest. I will take you to Red Square so you can see Mavzaley Lenin–Lenin’s Tomb. He still looks quite good. So, da, I have my job and you have yours. By the way, what is your job–exactly? And who pays you to spread your propaganda?
Looks like Mr James struck a nerve. And not only dost thou protest too much, thou assumes to much. He, like the rest of us, need not read your drivel. It is a predictable as Pedo Joe sniffing the nearest prepubescent girl.
You know what Joe likes best about twenty eight year olds? That there is twenty of them.
O T (Government Medicine)
Here is our future as the govenment extends its control over medical practice – strikes for better pay and working conditions by doctors.
“NHS officials have warned that doctors’ strikes this week are likely to cause disruption to patient care “unlike anything before”, as Wednesday will see consultants and junior doctors taking joint strike action for the first time in the escalating dispute over pay.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/18/doctors-strike-to-disrupt-care-unlike-anything-seen-before-warn-nhs-officials#:~:text=Junior%20doctors%20in%20England%20are,only%2C%20not%20across%20the%20UK.
They still haven’t told us how many millions Hunter and Jowls raked in with the US biolabs in Ukraine (formerly a conspiracy theory Qanon lie) and Hunter’s association with BIOMETA “his company” it has been said or his board rulings.
I love an open forum, but is there any way we can get people to stop triple, quadruple, quintuple posting? Today kinda turned into the Tom and Ralph show. Anonymous posts a lot, a whole lot, but even they don’t do it consecutively. Most people have forgotten it, but there is such a thing as online etiquette.
If you’re referring to ME when you say “Ralph,” Most days I post at most a single comment. Depending on any replies, I might reply to those replies. On only the rarest occasions do I ever post more than one comment. The CLOWN that posts as “Tom” loiters at this website all day, every day, and almost always posts well over a dozen comments/replies, the vast majority are nothing but childish sniping at others, with virtually no content related to the articles.
You are as big of a lying fraud as “Tom.”
You really want to keep this up, pinhead? This site doesnt belong to you, and i’m not your mutt. You can shove your whiney little opinion right where your head resides.
Why would you post more than once trumpeteer? all you ever do is tell turley what a left wing hack he is. I could write your comment every day, just like i could the libtards that post the same crap but opposite. The difference is i dont care what crap you post, because i dont think this site is the “hallowed halls of brilliant and important discussion about pressing topics of the day”. Your shower awaits.
CIVILITY RULE
RES IPSA LOQUITUR, JONATHAN TURLEY
Merriam- Webster
civility
noun
ci·vil·i·ty sə-ˈvi-lə-tē
plural civilities
1a : civilized conduct, especially : courtesy, politeness – bemoaned the decline of civility in our politics
1b: a polite act or expression, lacked the little civilities and hypocrisies of political society—Roy Jenkins – The men briefly exchanged civilities before the meeting began.
2archaic : training in the humanities
I thought “avoiding taxes” was what honest people do by buying tax-free municipal bonds or deferring capital gains. The operative term should be “evading taxes”.
The Biden White House has a “war room” to deal with the negative press about how, for years, Joe Biden took bribes, Hunter jetting around the world to collect all the cash, the shell companies to launder the bribes and the collusion with many in the press. He was living out the dream “Money for nothing and your chicks for free….That ain’t workin’….that’s the way you do it…”
If there is nothing to hide and he is innocent of all that he is accused of doing and where the mounting evidence points, the The 46th President could simple make available all the financial records to an independent council and a team of forensic auditors and be done with it. Get it out of the way, close up shop in the propaganda room and get on with doing what you said you would do for the nation, its citizens and to honor your pledge to defend the constitution and this nation from enemies foreign and domestic. He could instruct the DOJ, FBI and IRS to do their job without restrictions.
But alas, this will not take place and the more slick and cleaver legal maneuvering and gaslighting, the more suspicious and untrustworthy the accused appears. Nice dream. Now we are living in an upside down and warped world. Mike Judd’s movie “Idiocracy” is becoming a self fulfilling prophesy.
I sent this by accident before I could put my I.D.
The same reason Bidens lawyers “adamantly denied the allegation that he attended the dinner with Zlovchevsky…because he knows dam well he is guilty.
Off-topic: It’s now been over 24 hours since Trump’s lawyers replied to the prosecutor’s Response to Trump’s Motion for Judge Chutkan to recuse herself:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656604/58/united-states-v-trump/
So the issue of Judge Chutkan’s recusal due to lack of impartiality or the appearance thereof has been ripe for ruling for more than 24 hours, particularly as related to a fairly-obvious APPEARANCE of prejudice against Defendant Trump by Judge Chutkan resulting from her own incontrovertible extrajudicial remarks uttered for no real or legitimate purposes in trials or sentencing of J6 Defendants, some of whom she actually sentenced to MORE time than was requested by the prosecutor(s).
One might speculate as to why it would take any time at all for Judge Chutkan to rule on her own recusal, given that she surely knows the recusal standard concerning appeance of impropriety as well as she knows what’s in her own heart concerning her disposition toward President Trump. It’s NOT a matter concerning which she has to read volumes of testimony or review stacks of evidence and legal authorities.
So it appears somewhat unusual that it would take Judge Chutkan any time at all to rule on this issue in order to have a different judge assigned to the case. One possible obstacle, of course, is that there might not be ANY currently-active judges in the DC District that aren’t similarly prejudiced against President Trump.
Ralph, thanks for providing the link. If Chutkan rules against recusal, can Trump appeal, or must he wait until after the verdict and sentencing? It is often said that pre-trial appeals are rare in criminal cases, and that may be so here.